VIDEO : Will.I.Am's remix of Barack Obama's speech, "Yes We Can"
I believe the measure of a leader is in their ability to inspire their supporters creatively.
Will.I.Am said of his remix of Obama's New Hampshire speech :
"It made me reflect on the freedoms I have, going to school where I went to school, and the people that came before Obama like Martin Luther King, presidents like Abraham Lincoln that paved the way for me to be sitting here on ABCNews and making a song from Obama's speech," will.i.am said.
"The speech was inspiring about making change in America and I believe what it says and I hope everybody votes," Dylan said.
I believe the measure of a leader is in their choice to engage supporters as collaborators in the building of a social and political future. The difference between a campaign and a movement is in how people take the political moment as a call to action, regardless of whether the powers that be are there to reward them :
"I'm blown away by how many people wanted to come and be a part of it in a short amount of time. It was all out of love and hope for change and really representing America and looking at the world," will.i.am said.
Dylan and will.i.am say they did not coordinate the production or release of this video with the Obama campaign and the filmmakers say they don't even know if Obama is aware of the video.
"We didn't talk to anybody there... We just came together because it was an inspirational song about change coming out of his speech," Dylan said.
What's really exciting about this video is not only the age range of the people involved but the people who are in it : Common, Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta and Nick Cannon.
NICK FUCKING CANNON!
If you are a mother with children above the age of 10, you know why Nick Cannon's presence there is telling about this movement. If there is anybody who represents the bridge between the Nickelodeon and the MTV demographics is exactly Nick Cannon.
And by the way ... supermodel Amber Valetta?
Are you fucking serious?
This is what's so exciting about this movement.
It is young.
It is vibrant.
It is the first real movement of a post-Jim Crow United States.
Hat Tip :
Oh No They Didn't
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new to Obama
I went to my caucus and I put in my vote for Obama. For the first time this Nebraska citizen feels that a democrat's vote counts. I have been disenfranchised for ever. I am afraid to hope. I need to hope. I have been waiting for the charismatic one, a leader to bring a unifying energy to our shattered society. To hell with the fear-mongers! Bring on the hopeful and the diplomatic.
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This is what a movement looks like.
Thanks, oh, about a thousand times for posting this. I'm new to the Obama camp, having been at the outset a Kucinich supporter, and I have to say I'm skittish yet, but when I watched this video, I got excited. Then, your post was so in synch with what I was feeling that I had a rush of faith in my own excitement. This COULD be the brink of a social movement even bigger than a President (there are such things). I hope so. I truly hope so.